Dual flush tank valve

ABSTRACT

A device for optionally selecting the amount of water to be flushed from a flush tank and to control the amount of water outflowing therefrom.

United States tet 1 1 1111 3,99,5o

Dunn, .11. Oct. 7, 1975 [54] DUAL FLUSH TANK VALVE 1,963,211 6/1934Patterson 4/67 A 2,237,294 4/1941 Easle [75] Inventor: Ray A. Dunn, Jr.,Fairfax, Va. 2,505,091 4/1950 Brabi: H [73] Assignees: Barney Elias;Robert H. Caldwell, 2,731,647 1/1956 Gmth both of Jacksonville L; Edward3,795,016 3/1974 Eastman 4/67 A Elias, Springfield, Va. part interest toeach Primary Examiner-Henry K. Artis [22] Flled: 1974 Attorney, Agent,or FirmRummler & Snow 21 App]. No.: 498,733

[52] US. Cl. 4/67 A; 4/34 [51] Int. Cl?" A61B 19/00; EO3D 1/34; EO3D5/02 [58] Field of Search 4/67 R, 67 A, 249, 57 R,

4/57 D 34 37 A device for optionally selecting the amount of water to beflushed from a flush tank and to control the [57] ABSTRACT [56]References Cit d amount of water outflowing therefrom.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,960,864 5/1934 Brown 4/37 X 2 Claims, 4 DrawingFigures US. Patent Oct. 7,1975 3,909,856

DUAL FLUSH TANK VALVE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Flush tanks presentlyemployed in conjunction with toilet bowls wastefully flush substantiallythe entire contents of the tank each time the toilet bowl is emptied.Attempts have been made to rectify this situation but such devices areclumsy and require special fittings and installations. It was toovercome these deficiencies that the present invention was conceived.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A multiple level valve assembly having twooutlets situated at different discharge levels in a toilet flush tankreservoir, whereby the tank may optionally discharge either one-half ora substantially full tank of water. Both valve assemblies are operablewith a single actuator for both valves which are actuatable by separablemeans to raise one or the other valve from their respective seatsoptionally.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of atoilet flush tank with parts broken away to disclose the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on the lines 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end elevational view taken along the lines 33 of FIG. I;and

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the lines 4-4 of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A toilet water reservoir isprovided with the usual supply line delivering water to the reservoir,the supply shutoff float valve for controlling the amount of ingress ofwater in the reservoir, the overflow pipe and the bowl refill tube, noneof which parts are shown herein as they form no part of the presentinvention but are required for normal operation of the flush tank orreservoir.

The present invention relates to the valves, parts such as linkages,etc., and combined discharge pipes and tubes, with a novel control foractuating the valves.

The discharge pipe 12 has a pair of tubesstand pipes or conduits 14l6extending upwardly from discharge pipe or conduit 12 in the shape of aY" and communicating with said pipe 12. The tube 16 is relatively shortand is provided with a seat 18, both of which are in close proximity tothe bottom wall 20 of the reservoir 10. The discharge pipe 12 isprovided with the usual gaskets and nuts 13 to support the same in thereservoir in leak-proof arrangement.

The tube 14 is longer and has its upper end positioned about one-thirdof the distance below the uppermost water line A in the reservoir 10.

The tube 14 is provided with a valve seat 20 to seat a valve or stopperball 22. A stem 24 is connected at one end to the valve 22 in thecustomary manner and extends upwardly therefrom, terminating in a stop26. The lift rod 28 is provided with a right angled, short sectionhaving an eye 30 therein loosely surrounding the upper end of the stem24.

A horizontally extending arm 32 is pivotally secured medially of itsends by a pin 34 adjacent to the upper end of bracket arm 35. Theright-hand end 37 as shown in the drawings, is pivotally anchored to theupper end of the lift rod 28 at 36.

The valve or stopper ball 38 is provided with an elongated stem 40, oneend of which is secured to the valve 38. The stem 40 is provided with astop 42 at its upper free end. The lift rod 44 is provided with a rightangled short portion having an eye 46 therein surrounding the upper endof lift rod 40.

A pair of horizontally disposed link arms 47-48 are pivotally securedtogether by a pivot pin 50. Medially between its ends, the link arm 48is pivotally secured by a pin 52 to the upper end of bracket arm 54. Thefree end of the link arm 48 and the upper end of the lift rod 44 arealso pivotally secured together by pin 49. Link arm 47 is pivotallysecured to the upper end of bracket arm 35 by pin 39.

The bracket arms 35-54 are secured at their lower ends to tube 14. Thiscan be accomplished in any suitable manner such as molding the parts,etc., but as here shown, the lower end of the brackets are securedtogether by a circular band 56 which is force fitted on the tube 14.

The reservoir 10 is provided with a rotatable flushing handle 60pivotally secured to the front wall reservoir in the usual manner exceptthat the handle member preferably lies in a vertical plane andpreferably the free end extends upwardly.

A substantially flat plate 64 is connected to the shaft 62 of the handlemember 60 and extends interiorly of the reservoir housing and extendsinwardly at right angles to the axis of the shaft 62. The free ends ofthe lever arm 32 lie underneath the plate 64 while the free end of thelink 47 lies above the plate 64 and each contacts the respectivesurfaces of the plate.

When the operating handle is manually rotatably shifted to the right(towards the letter H on the front wall of the reservoir housing), theplate 64 will move downwardly forcing the lever arm 32 downwardly aboutpivot pin 34 to move the end 37 of arm 32 upwardly and shift lift arm 28and the stem 24 along with it causing the valve 22 to lift from its seat20 to the position shown in the broken lines in FIG. 1 and allow thewater in the reservoir above the open end of table 14 to flow throughthe tube 14 to the toilet bowl (not shown). Since the valve 22 isbuoyant, it will remain in the broken line position until about one-halfof the water in the reservoir has been emptied through tube 14 and thenit will drop down by gravity to its seat 20 again.

When the operating handle 60 is shifted to the left toward the letter F,the end 68 of link arm 47 will be shifted upwardly about pivot pin 39,causing the opposite end 70 of arm 47 to shift downwardly and carry theend 72 of link arm 48 to shift downwardly about pivot 52 to shift theend 74 upwardly to raise the lift arm 44 and the stem 40, whereby thevalve 38 will shift upwardly from its seat 18 to allow all the water inthe reservoir 10 above the waterline B to flow outwardly through tube 16to the toilet bowl. The valve 38 being buoyant will remain in theposition shown in broken line until all the water above the waterline Bhas been exhausted, when it will drop downwardly by gravity to its seat16.

The stem 40 may be guided in its movement by guide 76.

It will thus be seen that this construction will save water as thisstructure provides the user as between a lesser volume flush or a fullvolume flush.

This invention may be installed in existing flush tanks as should beobvious or may be installed as original equipment.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention is herein shownand described, it will be understood that details of the constructionshown may be al tered or omitted without departing from the spirit ofthe invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A toilet flush tank valve assembly wherein a selective volume ofwater may be flushed into a toilet bowl comprising a flush tank, adischarge pipe having communication with a toilet bowl, a first conduitextending vertically upwardly from said discharge pipe into the interiorof the flush tank and being offset therefrom and communicatingtherewith, a second conduit extending vertically upwardly from saidpipe, offset from said first conduit and said pipe and communicatingwith said pipe, said second conduit terminating closely adjacent thebottom of said tank, valve means seated on the open ends of saidconduits, a series of pivoted link arms for optionally opening one orthe other of said valves, said link arms positioned in horizontalplanes, one below the other and each link arm having a free end, a shaftextending interiorly into said tank and connected at one end to a handlepositioned exteriorly of said tank, a fiat plate secured to said shaftand extending at right angles thereto, whereby the free ends of saidlinks lie against the upper and lower faces of said plate respectivelywhereby upon movement of said plate in an upward direction, the upperlink arms will actuate the valve on said second conduit to flush a fulltank of water and when the plate is shifted downwardly, it will actuatethe valve on said first conduit to flush a half tank of water, andhandle means to operate said plate.

2. The device according to claim 1 wherein the series of linkagescomprises a first linkage having a pair of link arms pivotally securedtogether and lying in a horizontal plane with one free end abutting theupper surface face of the plate and the other free end pivotally securedto the lift arm of the valve that discharges a full tank of water, eachof said link arms pivoted medially of its ends, and a second link armpivoted medially its ends, one free end of said link arm abutting thelower face of said plate and the other free end pivotally secured to thelift arm of the valve for discharging substantially one half a tank ofwater. i l

1. A toilet flush tank valve assembly wherein a selective volume ofwater may be flushed into a toilet bowl comprising a flush tank, adischarge pipe having communication with a toilet bowl, a first conduitextending vertically upwardly from said discharge pipe into the interiorof the flush tank and being offset therefrom and communicatingtherewith, a second conduiT extending vertically upwardly from saidpipe, offset from said first conduit and said pipe and communicatingwith said pipe, said second conduit terminating closely adjacent thebottom of said tank, valve means seated on the open ends of saidconduits, a series of pivoted link arms for optionally opening one orthe other of said valves, said link arms positioned in horizontalplanes, one below the other and each link arm having a free end, a shaftextending interiorly into said tank and connected at one end to a handlepositioned exteriorly of said tank, a flat plate secured to said shaftand extending at right angles thereto, whereby the free ends of saidlinks lie against the upper and lower faces of said plate respectivelywhereby upon movement of said plate in an upward direction, the upperlink arms will actuate the valve on said second conduit to flush a fulltank of water and when the plate is shifted downwardly, it will actuatethe valve on said first conduit to flush a half tank of water, andhandle means to operate said plate.
 2. The device according to claim 1wherein the series of linkages comprises a first linkage having a pairof link arms pivotally secured together and lying in a horizontal planewith one free end abutting the upper surface face of the plate and theother free end pivotally secured to the lift arm of the valve thatdischarges a full tank of water, each of said link arms pivoted mediallyof its ends, and a second link arm pivoted medially its ends, one freeend of said link arm abutting the lower face of said plate and the otherfree end pivotally secured to the lift arm of the valve for dischargingsubstantially one half a tank of water.